Net Prophethttp://netprophet.tol.org
New media and tech developments across Central Europe and Eurasia from Transitions OnlineMon, 18 Aug 2014 20:32:00 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2Russian government edits Wikipedia page on Flight MH17http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/07/22/russian-government-edits-wikipedia-page-on-flight-mh17/
http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/07/22/russian-government-edits-wikipedia-page-on-flight-mh17/#commentsTue, 22 Jul 2014 20:35:39 +0000Nikki Munro, Transitions Onlinehttp://netprophet.tol.org/?p=6546A Russian government official has been accused of editing the Russian-lanugage version of the MH17 Wikipedia page.

Malaysian Airline Flight, MH17, was shot down over eastern Ukraine on Thursday, 17 July. The flight was on a scheduled run from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed, killing all 298 people onboard. In recent days, the focus has shifted from the crash itself to the topic of who is responsible. As the world started pointing fingers at Russia, President Putin immediately placed the blame on the Ukrainian military.

Russian authorities reportedly removed sections that accused the Russian government of providing “terrorists” (pro-Russian separatists) with missiles that were used to down the civilian plane. RuGovEdits, a Twittherbot that monitors the edits made to Wikipedia from Russian government IP addresses, has spotted the changes that were made to a section on a Russian-language page related to the crash of MH17.

Before the alleged edit, as translated by the International Business Times, the Wikipedia entry read: “The plane [Flight MH17] was shot down by terrorists of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk with BUK missiles, which were obtained by terrorists from the Russian Federation.”

An Internet user within the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) was found to have made this entry change, according to The Telegraph. This change, along with all other edits to Wikipedia, are permanently logged. These logs include the alterations that have been made to the posts along with the storage of the IP address and username.

This is not the first time government officials have allegedly edited Wikipedia pages. In 2012, the government of Kazahkstan reportedly paid prominent Western PR firms, who are said to have edited the Wikipedia pages of Kazakh officials and other government-related entries. In the United States, the Twitter account, @congressedits, has found many topics that U.S. Congress members have tweaked. Some of the sample edited topics include John F. Kennedy, Crimea, the Council on Foreign Relations, and Republican Congressman Tim Huelskamp.

]]>http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/07/22/russian-government-edits-wikipedia-page-on-flight-mh17/feed/0Russians’ online data must be stored in-country: Duma billhttp://netprophet.tol.org/2014/07/14/russians-online-data-must-be-stored-in-country-duma-bill/
http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/07/14/russians-online-data-must-be-stored-in-country-duma-bill/#commentsMon, 14 Jul 2014 12:59:03 +0000Transitions Onlinehttp://netprophet.tol.org/?p=6346A bill adopted by the lower house of the Russian parliament 4 July will require Internet companies that store personal data on Russian citizens to locate such data on servers inside the country, The Moscow Times reports.

Russian officials contend that requiring the use of Russian servers reduces citizens’ susceptibility to cybercrime and fraud. But the law’s critics say it is part of a larger effort to silence social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, which were crucial in organizing the 2012 protests against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s return to the Kremlin, the BBC reports.

“The ultimate goal is to shut mouths, enforce censorship in the country and shape a situation where internet business would not be able to exist and function properly,” Russian Internet expert and blogger Anton Nossik said.

The law will require foreign Internet companies that store user data such as Facebook, Twitter and others to open Russian offices, State Duma deputy Vadim Dengin, a co-author of the bill, said, according to the Voice of Russia.

Russia has passed several laws meant to protect Internet users and cut down on online crime. Legislation signed last week by President Vladimir Putin sets criminal penalties for disseminating material considered extremist online.

Putin maintains that the purpose of the Duma bill is mainly to help protect children from indecent content. If passed by the upper house of parliament, the law is expected to take effect in September 2016, The Moscow Times reports.

]]>http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/07/14/russians-online-data-must-be-stored-in-country-duma-bill/feed/0Innovators welcome at Deutsche Welle’s Global Media Forumhttp://netprophet.tol.org/2014/07/07/innovators-welcome-at-deutsche-welles-global-media-forum/
http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/07/07/innovators-welcome-at-deutsche-welles-global-media-forum/#commentsMon, 07 Jul 2014 08:40:13 +0000Transitions Onlinehttp://netprophet.tol.org/?p=6356Nearly 2,500 media and communication professionals from around the world gathered at the World Conference Center in Bonn, Germany from 30 June-2 July for the Deutsche Welle’s annual Global Media Forum.

This year’s conference, “From Information to Participation: Challenges for the Media,” featured panels and workshops focused on practical approaches to adjusting industry standards and practices to meet the needs of an increasingly global audience and market.

But before the conference kickoff, Ashoka, a global network of social innovators, gathered together its journalism and media fellows for a intensive, two-day summit—the Globalizer. The intimate setting provided a focused atmosphere in which the fellows were able to discuss ideas, tools, and strategies and for improving their respective participative journalism projects.

“Social innovation in journalism and the news media is especially important as information access is rapidly opening up, creating a great potential for participation, social impact, and the eventual solution of the world’s most pressing problems,” Michael Vollman, Ashoka Globalizer co-director, said.

Through its Globalizer Summits, Ashoka offers a platform for accelerated growth, where a select group of leading entrepreneurs from the private and social sectors, along with members of Ashoka’s Global Academy, support each participating fellow in intensive ‘accelerator panels’ focused on scaling social impact.

“The summits not only provide fellows with high-quality strategic advice and the opportunity to make important contacts and find new partners, but they also serve as a way to build a community of practice around scaling social impact with the potential to inspire more changemakers around the globe,” Lea-Kristin Martin, a consultant at Ashoka Globalizer, said.

Having attended last year’s Globalizer and Global Media Forum, Jeremy Druker, a four-year Ashoka fellow and executive director of Transitions, made the trip to Bonn from Prague again this year. Transitions, a Czech-based news magazine and media development NGO, works to train journalists from across the post-communist region of Europe and Eurasia. The organization is now preparing to launch its first global project, Media Defender, a crowdfunding platform to support reporters working in countries with a partially free or unfree press.

“The Globalizer was a great way to get out of our “box” and receive fresh feedback from outside experts, and you couldn’t find a better event than the GMF to find partners from all over the world for Media Defender, Druker said.”

The Media Defender team meets with media expert Jerry Timmins at the Globalizer.

MEDIA DEFENDER

After an energizing series of brainstorming and strategizing sessions, the Ashoka fellows went on to partake in the three-day Global Media Forum program.

“Regarding the forum itself, it was inspiring to attend some of the panel discussions. I especially enjoyed a panel on social media activism, which featured an Egyptian woman who played a key role in the Arab Spring,” Druker said.

The forum participants were free to attend any of the offered panels and workshops. Topics of discussion included social vs. traditional media, ‘slacktivism’ vs. activism, civil society and media collaboration, community building and user engagement, citizen journalism, freedom of information and source protection, and other topics regarding roles of the media as catalysts for social and political change.

Deutsche Welle hosted two evening receptions and a Rhine river cruise to provide participants more informal opportunities to meet each other and share ideas.

“On the lighter side, all of us appreciated the willingness of the organizers to keep the drinks flowing and the TV screens on for the World Cup, even late into the night, creating a memorable atmosphere,” Druker said.

As the space for independent media in Russia continues to shrink, journalists face career and, in some cases, life threats for reporting on certain issues.

“Ecoreporter is not just about environmental stories. It is about environmental rights and the right to protect them [those rights],” said Ecoreporter founder Olga Zakharova.

In September 2013, a group of international Greenpeace activists, known as the Arctic 30, were arrested during a non-violent protest against offshore drilling in the Russian arctic. Although they were protesting in international waters, Russian special forces detained and charged them with acts of “hooliganism.” In a similar circumstance, Russian eco-activist, Yevgeny Vitishko, was sentenced to 3 years in a Russian penal colony for his role in the protests against environmental damages caused by the 2014 Olympic games in Sochi. Such situations demonstrate the risks associated with calling attention to environmental issues in Russia.

“There are not too many countries in the world where it may be harder to be a professional journalist than in Russia,” said IndieVoices founder Sasa Vucinic. “And these brave reporters at Ecoreporter deserve our admiration and financial support.”

Crowdfunding has become a trendy and effective way of raising money for a certain cause or business venture that allows the public to become more involved in the process. Through crowdfunding, individuals can impact the larger community, even if the project contribution is small.

“It’s as simple as replicating the system that has been refined by the business world over many centuries: the marketplace as a tool for efficient funds allocation,” said Vucinic.

In the case of Ecoreporter.ru, as with many other organizations that try crowdfunding, the contributions are instrumental in realizing projects. Transitions decided to use IndieVoices, a platform Vucinic describes as a marketplace tailored for specific media development sector needs that is open to public contributions.

To learn more about the campaign and to help Ecoreporter.ru continue to provide a haven for journalists and eco-activists in Russia, feel free to take a peek at the campaign on IndieVoices—there are only 37 days remaining!

]]>http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/06/24/new-tol-crowd-funding-campaign-seeks-to-help-russian-journalists/feed/0Dushanbe suspected in Google, YouTube blackoutshttp://netprophet.tol.org/2014/06/16/dushanbe-suspected-in-google-youtube-blackouts/
http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/06/16/dushanbe-suspected-in-google-youtube-blackouts/#commentsMon, 16 Jun 2014 09:41:56 +0000Transitions Onlinehttp://netprophet.tol.org/?p=6295The disappearance of popular Internet services in Tajikistan this week appears to follow a recurrent pattern of foreign websites being blocked by the authorities.

On 12 June, Internet users reported being unable to access Google, including their Gmail accounts, Radio Free Europe reports. The country’s Association of Internet Service Providers confirmed that most providers had blocked Google.

This came two days after YouTube went almost entirely dark – the fourth such outage since July 2012, according to AzerNews. Most recently, in May 2013, YouTube went down for several days after a video showing authoritarian President Imomali Rahmon singing and dancing at his son’s wedding appeared on the popular video-sharing website.

On 11 June, the OSCE’s representative for media freedom urged the authorities to restore YouTube access, RFE reports. Dushanbe denied any involvement, with a government official blaming “possible technical problems.”

Over the past two years, Tajikistani authorities have blocked websites including Russian social media and news portals. In 2012, they twice blocked access to Facebook in what many saw as an effort to muzzle dissent ahead of the 2013 presidential elections.

]]>http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/06/16/dushanbe-suspected-in-google-youtube-blackouts/feed/0Czech IT potential up and coming among OECD countrieshttp://netprophet.tol.org/2014/06/11/czech-it-potential-up-and-coming-among-oecd-countries/
http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/06/11/czech-it-potential-up-and-coming-among-oecd-countries/#commentsWed, 11 Jun 2014 15:19:55 +0000Anna Kotlabova, Transitions Onlinehttp://netprophet.tol.org/?p=6255In a presentation at the American Embassy in Prague on 5 June 2014, Lucie Kelblova presented data from the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) as part of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an organisation which serves to promote economic development and cooperation between member countries. This study, called The Czech Population’s Skills in the Environment of Information Technology, compared the Czech Republic with other participating countries in the sphere of IT capabilities, revealing many promising trends.

Participants were divided into two age groups, younger (16-24) and older (55-65). Younger participants of all countries scored higher in problem solving than the older age group average. Also, there was a lesser chance that younger people had no prior experience using a computer, although the Czech Republic had one of the smallest proportions of respondents of all ages who had no prior experience with computers (2.2 percent).

Image courtesy of PIAAC.

The capabilities of the participants were divided into three categories. The third category was the most difficult and the highest level. The Czech Republic, along with Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, and Belgium, had among the highest proportions of respondents in the younger age bracket achieving level three (11 percent). Interestingly, the study also showed that the greatest proportion of respondents aged 16-24 who only achieved level one was in England, Northern Ireland, the US, and Slovakia. The smallest proportion of youth who did not achieve level one was in South Korea (2.6 percent) and Finland (3.6 percent), while the greatest proportion was in Poland (11.4 percent) and again, the United States (10.7 percent).

Despite the increase in gender equality in the OECD countries, PIACC showed that certain gender divides still exist. Men were more mathematically capable of solving IT problems, though women tended to score higher in reading capabilities. Most notably, in all OECD countries, more men than women reached the second and third levels of IT problem solving. In the Czech Republic, this was a significant six point difference.

Finally, in terms of general computer use, the Czech Republic also ranked among the top countries. At least 65 percent of Czech respondents of all ages use a computer at least sometimes, and 87 percent of adults have a personal computer at home. The PISA study (an OECD study concerning skills and knowledge in education) also examined the use of computers by fifteen year-old students. In the Czech Republic, this was remarkably high—81 percent, a score which is surpassed only by the Netherlands at 92 percent.

These statistics not only provide much insight on the general state of IT aptitude in the Czech Republic, but they also demonstrate the positive impact and successes of several steps taken in the last 10 years to introduce information technology to the Czech education system. Czech youth already rank among the adept, and additional exposure and training will presumably prove to boost them further along this trajectory.

]]>http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/06/11/czech-it-potential-up-and-coming-among-oecd-countries/feed/03 ways the Russian government plans to police the webhttp://netprophet.tol.org/2014/06/04/3-ways-the-russian-government-plans-to-police-the-web/
http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/06/04/3-ways-the-russian-government-plans-to-police-the-web/#commentsWed, 04 Jun 2014 10:14:05 +0000Kevin Rothrock, Global Voices Onlinehttp://netprophet.tol.org/?p=6199A new Russian law will go into effect on August 1, 2014, that requires a wide array of websites and online services to register formally with the government. Sites and applications that allow Internet users to communicate will be obligated to store the past six months of user-data on servers located inside Russia, making the information available to Russian law enforcement. Several state agencies are now involved in drafting bylaws that will determine how officials actually enforce the new Internet laws.

Image courtesy of author.

Four draft bylaws are making headlines in Russian newspapers today. Additionally, the Web portal Habrahabr.ru has posted the documents’ full text.

Websites and applications will be required to archive virtually every kind of information about their users (logins, email addresses, contacts lists, all changes to a user’s account, a list of all accessed DNS servers, and so on). The actual content of the messages exchanged online, however, does not need to be archived. (If you write “Down with Putin!” to your Facebook friend, Russian police would only see that you messaged your Facebook friend—not that you cursed the Kremlin.)

2. The Kremlin is careful to let sleeping dogs lie.

Sites and services that exist for “personal, family, or household needs” are exempt from the law, though this exception does not apply to the exchange of information of a “public-political nature” or to conversations where the number of participants is indefinite. Online commerce, scientific and educational activity, and things like job searches are also exempt. TJournal’s Sultan Suleimanov has joked that these exceptions are “for everyone except Navalny” (the country’s most prominent anti-corruption blogger), observing that Russian authorities are being cautious not to disturb apolitical Internet users.

3. An opt-out loophole could grant the Russian government total access to websites’ data.

Finally, the Russian Federal Security Service (the equivalent of the American FBI) will offer websites and applications the opportunity to opt out of the data-archiving requirement, if they grant the government full, real-time access to their data. In this case, Russian police would obtain unrestricted access to Internet users’ data, which officials would themselves archive. According to a source inside the Interior Ministry, the state now lacks the resources necessary to archive much data itself. (In other words, additional funding would be required.)

It is this third point that could prove the most curious in the enforcement of Russia’s new Internet regulations. How many websites and applications will decide to open entirely to the government, to spare themselves the trouble and expense of selecting and storing user-data according to the new laws? Is the Kremlin betting that it can gain full access to the RuNet by offering this loophole? Or is this a ploy by federal police to bleed the state budget of more funding, creating the need for subsidies to be plundered?

Of course, corruption and censorship are not mutually exclusive. That much we know from Alexey Navalny, who, having spent the past three months under house arrest and a ban on Internet use, learned it the hard way.

In late May 2014, Serbia was hit hard by flooding in what became the largest natural disaster the region has seen in the past century. The catastrophic floods not only have taken a yet unknown number of lives and homes, but have also brought to light the pressure and censorship the current government, led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), has been placing on media.

Bloggers, journalists and rights-conscious Internet users have banded together in the aftermath of the massive floods with a flood of their own – a unified blog post [sr] speaking out against censorship and media intimidation that was posted and reposted on dozens of blogs [sr] in Serbia over less than a day.

As flooding surged in the region, leaving several cities in Serbia under three or more meters of water, the Serbian government instated a state of emergency. Apart from aiding in the evacuation of flooded areas and supposedly allowing for more efficient government functioning, the state of emergency also gives authorities certain liberties, such as detaining individuals for “inciting panic during a state of emergency.”

As Internet users began commenting and sharing information on social networks and blogs about the floods, many of them also criticized the government’s lack of due warning for a natural disaster of this size and its poor response in some areas.

With the state of emergency in place, some social media users were brought in for questioning by police forces under the suspicion of “inciting panic” for criticizing government relief efforts.

Originally written and posted by what seems to be a small group of organized local bloggers who intentionally began spreading it across the web, the post first appeared on May 24, 2014. At the time of this post’s publication, it has spread rapidly among social media users throughout the region and carries a now widely popular hashtag on Twitter – #ulicecenzuri (“in the fact of censorship”). A Facebook page for the movement created on May 24 has already garnered nearly 800 likes.

The viral post, titled “In the Face of Censorship” and with a subtitle containing a clear message to authorities – “Because you can’t arrest us all or proclaim us crazy” – begins:

In the days when amid the negligence, ineptitude, and irresponsibility of government, brave and humane citizens took on the functions of state and are helping the victims from flooded and endangered areas, the government is wasting time and energy on abusing freedom of expression, attacking and shutting down Internet sites that are demanding accountability…

[...]

In the absence of a strong parliamentary opposition, with a small number of print and electronic media criticizing the government, the government of Aleksandar Vucic and its accessories are attacking critical thinking on the Internet, stifling freedom of expression. Faced with unpleasant questions and facts that aren’t in agreement with it, the government has resorted to force, thus proving that it has no arguments to defend its actions.

The post also mentions some of the web pages and articles that were taken down before its publishing and adds that bloggers and journalists “cannot help but assume that more will be taken down.” An English translation of the post is available on the Balkanist.net website.

Some larger group blogs or websites by independent users, such as that of Serbian daily Blic, have taken down the reproduced posts or are burying them deep within the sites, perhaps hoping the issue will blow over and be forgotten. One user of the blog portion of privately-owned news and media network B92 reproduced the post on his blog and tweeted:

Many bloggers and journalists have added their names to a long list of signatures at the end of the post, and others like Sandra Kravic Simonovic also added a few words of their own to the blog post upon republishing it on their personal blogs. Kravic Simonovic introduced the reproduced blog post by saying:

This is not the first time that censorship has been a topic on this blog. Unfortunately, I have to add [to that]. The first time, the reason was the response [sr] of a BBC journalist [Dusan Masic] to a Kurir [Serbian daily] journalist that mysteriously vanished from the blog platform of the B92 website. Considering that my blog is an independent medium that is not financed by any political party, I have the full freedom to give [my] space to this response and publish it in its entirety.

Six months later, the state of media censorship in Serbia has not only not changed, but has I would say gotten worse. It seems as if a text disappears every day, comments that are published on mainstream media sites are carefully screened, and in the last few days during the state of emergency, things have gone even farther in Serbia.

People have been called in for questioning by police due to their writings on social media. The reason for questioning was “inciting panic on social networks”, which is regulated by the Criminal Code of Serbia (Chapter 31, CRIMINAL ACTS AGAINST PUBLIC ORDER AND PEACE, article 343, points 1 and 2), which carries a possible prison sentence from three months up to three years and a fine (point 1), or six months to five years and a fine (point 2).

Newly-elected Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, the country’s former deputy prime minister, is know for using repressive measures against media. During the February 2014 election campaign, Vucic’s team reacted to a parody video of him by requesting that several copies of it be taken down from YouTube. They allegedly also took down several personal websites that made the video available for download to other Internet users.

Another popular hashtag accompanying #uLiceCenzuri is #ZatvorUp, which translates to #PrisonUp. Apparently, in spite of Serbia’s notoriously slow judicial system and overcrowded prisons, people are saying that they are willing to be jailed to defend their freedom of expression in a country that is desperate for reforms, rule of law and much needed recovery.

]]>http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/05/27/serbian-bloggers-censored-for-criticizing-flood-relief-efforts/feed/0Youth@Work in Moldovahttp://netprophet.tol.org/2014/05/20/youthwork-in-moldova/
http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/05/20/youthwork-in-moldova/#commentsTue, 20 May 2014 23:18:20 +0000Anna Kotlabovahttp://netprophet.tol.org/?p=6100Youth in Moldova are taking the future into their own hands. It started with the United Nations Development Group’s decision to launch Post-2015 Dialogues on Implementation into 50 countries. Then, the UNDP, Emerson College’s Engagement Lab and the National Youth Council of Moldova formed a coalition to tackle the issue of development in Moldova.

“From the very beginning our main idea was to see how we can engage with Moldovan youth to discuss a topic of crucial importance for them. We wanted to employ an approach that would be engaging and “cool” with youth, but at the same time would offer an array of opportunities to learn, empathize and work together on problem solving. Playing a game has appeared a perfect way to go ahead,” Alexandru Oprunenco of UNDP said.

This game was designed by Emerson College’s Engagement Lab. Participants gain virtual coins for answering questions or participating in debates, and these virtual coins can be exchanged for real money to fund the winning projects. The game is designed to break down obstacles that otherwise prevent people from participating in local causes, such as timidity or lack of time. Three missions, each a week long, constitute one game. During the games, players accumulate virtual coins, and at the end of each game the three best projects are funded.

Stephen Walter, the Managing Director of the Emerson College Engagement Lab said, “The two day workshop in January was an amazing experience that brought together youth leaders from throughout Moldova to introduce the idea of Community PlanIt and to get people thinking; however, not much concrete work on the content was made then. Most of the game was created by Consiliul Naţional al Tineretului din Moldova (National Youth Council of Moldova).”

UNDP’s Oprunenco commented on the game’s success saying, “In the three weeks that game was played, we managed to engage around 1,200 people from all over Moldova, including from the break-away region of Transnistria. To ensure maximum inclusivity the game platform supported two languages: Romanian/Moldovan (the state language) and Russian.”

One of the main advantages of the game was the creation of a platform through which young Moldavians across the country could communicate with one another.

The issue of immigration is a good example of the dialogue the game produced. Currently about one-fourth of Moldovans work outside of Moldova. When one participant suggested immigration is a viable option for the unemployed youth in Moldova, many others who had immigration experience, brought up the negative aspects of immigration for Moldovan youth such as the risks involved. Hearing advice from peers of the same age was much more effective than an expert talk or information campaigns.

For more specific and further information, the immediate feedback of the project can be found at communityplanit.org.

]]>http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/05/20/youthwork-in-moldova/feed/0Google and Yandex integrate ad platformshttp://netprophet.tol.org/2014/05/02/google-and-yandex-integrate-ad-platforms/
http://netprophet.tol.org/2014/05/02/google-and-yandex-integrate-ad-platforms/#commentsFri, 02 May 2014 14:25:30 +0000Carolyn Boyce, Transitionshttp://netprophet.tol.org/?p=6065In a partnership announced in February, Google and Yandex, the most popular search engine in Russia, will cooperate to allow their respective advertising platforms to access each other’s inventory.

In the deal, Google’s demand-side ad platform, DoubleClick Bid Manager, will be connected to Yandex’s real-time bidding system. At the same time, Yandex’s demand-side platform, AWAPS, will become part of the DoubleClick Ad Exchange, Google’s real-time bidding marketplace. Real-time bidding is a means by which online ads are bought and sold on a per-impression basis in an instantaneous, programmatic marketplace, similar to financial markets. Advertising buyers bid on an impression and, if the bid is won, the buyer’s ad is instantly displayed on the publisher’s site. According to The Next Web, this means that Google’s clients will have access to Yandex’s advertising inventory, and Yandex’s clients will be able to bid for ad display space in the global network of DoubleClick Ad Exchange partners. While Google has always lead the market in ad display optimization, Yandex brings their MatrixNet technology which learns user behaviors to target ads to consumers more precisely. Together, Google and Yandex may create the ultimate ad platform delivery system, according to Search Engine Watch. In a recent blog post about the partnership, Yandex stated that the growing popularity of such automated systems has made it necessary for them to participate in the global ad exchange market. The switch from human-based to technology-based mediation in advertising trading helps to keep Yandex relevant globally. The partnership, made to “facilitate global networking and open competition in digital marketing” noticeably contradicts Russia’s current trend of isolation in other communication technologies, such as social media. However, Yandex also signed an agreement with Facebook in January to create a social search feature that provides Yandex visitors related, real-time public posts from Facebook alongside other search results. With the bilateral partnership agreement already signed, Google and Yandex are now in the process of implementing the ad cooperation project, which only relates to display advertising, not text-based contextual advertising. The goal of the project is to raise the quality of ads for users globally, by increasing competition among advertisers and bidders and generating higher bids at auction. Yandex accounts for about 62% of searches made in Russia, while Google accounts for about 67% of searches made in the United States.